28 November 2014

Review & Swatches: Memebox Special #56 K-Style 4

I've been away for a while, partially because of a new job, and partially because I felt like the blog was an enabler for me to buy more beauty crap. (Also, I am an enabler.) So here's a pic=heavy post to make up for it.

I ordered this box with non-expedited shipping on 25 Sep; the pre-determined shipping date was 18 Nov; and it arrived today, on 28 Nov.

Inside:

Card:

$37 (after shipping) for six full-sized items doesn't sound bad, but I was disappointed by a few of the products inside.

Product Impressions & Swatches

Item 1: Revecen Volumizing Mascara in some generic black

I didn't open this for photos, because this is just a quick swatch post--and black mascaras basically all look the same. No action photos either, because my lashes are short enough to make mascara application a lengthy, unvoluminous pain in the ass.

Item 2: Shara Shara Petit Friend Matte Lip Crayon in PK01 Pure Pink

I was looking forward to this product--in fact, it was the first thing I smeared all over my post-Thanksgiving fat face--but the shade I got isn't even a shade.

Looks all nice and pretty in the tube, right? Lip swatch:

As far as I could tell, all it did for my lips was give them a faint unhealthy white cast. The stain from an earlier lip product made that look pigmented in the slightest, so maybe an arm swatch would be better:

That slightly shiny spot is supposed to be multiple layers of something 1) matte, and 2) Pure Pink. Instead, I got something 1) mucus-resembling, and 2) useless.
Since it's almost moisturising, I guess I'll be using this as a sub-par lip balm. At least it smells like nice candy.

Item 3: Shara Shara Triple Shine Color Shadow Trio in 03 Cobalt Blue

'Oh! Four options! That means I have a 75% chance of NOT getting... Cobalt Blue.'

To be fair, since this shade probably isn't the best seller, it's not unlikely that my chances were much lower.

I love eye shadows, but medium blue ones clash horribly with my warm skin tone, as I imagine it does with a lot of other girls of East Asian descent.Sapphires and navies are okay, but as you will see below, the card's photo of darkest shade in the trio is misleading. (As is the arrangement of things in the trio--they go medium shade, then dark, then light in real life; but the order is swapped in the photo. Memebox, you had better not have sent me a knock-off.)

The face is meant to be... cute or something, I guess.

It contains a little plastic insert to protect from drool. IF IT WAS A COLOUR I ACTUALLY LIKED, anyway.

The lid shade actually isn't too bad. It's light enough that I could use it as a highlight, if I ran out of the intended highlight colour.
The darkest shade isn't actually a cobalt blue (or navy), but a medium aqua blue with white glitter. I might be able to use it as an accent in the summer.

Item 4: Revecen Face Control Foundation in 002 Violet

A possibly-gimmicky cream product. Perhaps an oversupply of purple dyes created a demand to make a demand for a novelty product with wide claims.

'RÊVECEN use the best materials':

Finger swatch and finger print:

I tried to get a swatch of a bit of it blended out on my face, but I couldn't find the spot when I went back through my photos. So I guess that goes to show what a difference it made for my skin.

My skin has a lot of redness right now, and this purple cream just made me look slightly pinker. A green product probably would've been better in my case, although no sheer layer of any colour is going to magically cancel out blemishes. Regardless of what advanced insights into colour theory are marketed to you.

Item 5: Beauty People Miss 100 Auto Gel Pencil Liner in Gleam Brown

The English on the packaging says Glam Brown, but both Memebox's card and the Korean text on the packaging say Gleam Brown. The other colour options were Glimmer Coral and Glimmer Bronze

Next to foundation, eyeliner is one of the few colour cosmetic products I use up with any regularity. I'm always happy to get a good waterproof one, and automatic pencils are even better..

Glam Brown is a dark brown with chunks of golden glitter. Kinda like a golddigger's turd.

Item 6: ideeB Real Triple Rouge in 02 Shine Pink

This was the only shade sent out. It's a wearable, sheer coral-ish pink gloss.

It's less neon than in the picture. The tone of gloss stuck to the plastic part of the wand is more accurate.

My lips were still a little stained when I took the below photos; the gloss is not as fuschia as it appears below. The colour reminds me of Nyx Butter Gloss in Peaches and Cream, but not milky.

Overall Thoughts

The products were okay in this box, but some of the shades were disappointing. Unfortunately, there's no way to customise Memeboxes. Based on the box reveals I'd seen of previous K-Style boxes, this one fell a little short; it was also disappointing compared to the Vagabond Youth collaboration box that I'd purchased previously. I think I'll be sticking to Memebox's skincare boxes next time.